DJ Thoughts

I hate DJing. I hate it.
As I drive to the warehouse to pick up the equipment I question why I have been doing this for a dozen years. I load up the equipment knowing that I'm meant for more than this pathetic physical labor. Why do I have an assistant if I'm doing all the heavy lifting?!
I then drive to the job with a disgust in my mouth. I'm too old for this. I am not keeping up on the new music. I don't want to do this. There is so much more going on tonight. The game is on. The party is about to begin. The gathering of friends that I rarely see will soon be assembling.
Yet, I'm on the road. I'm setting up the equipment. I'm starting boring-ass cocktail music during dinner.
I am not happy.
That is, until I press play for real. That is when the world changes. That is when I feel the pressure of the song ending before I know what to play next. This is before I encounter the stress of entertaining a crowd of people that I have never met, and that I will never meet again, for hours on end.
To find the perfect song to regain the trust that I lost earlier in the night. Or, better yet, to maintain the flow and growth of a memorable time for everyone involved. To create a set list. To know what I'm going to play five songs out - what a great sense of calm. To have a game plan. To have a logical AND emotional flow to the evening. Hoping that no one interrupts it with a stupid request.
I pray for the events that are filled with nothing but great requests. Songs that I know already work. Give me the "Brown Eyed Girls." Tell me of the "Y.M.C.A." Even sneak in the best song to get everyone out on the dancefloor - "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. (Why does this work? I don't know. Loggins must be a musical genius.) Then mix in a sprinkling of "Oh, my God! I haven't heard this song in FOREVER!" as I play Bel Biv Divo's "Poison." Yeah, that's right. That girl is poison!
A good evening ends with me coated in sweat. Your guests have their arms around each other shouting out lyrics to a song they have heard a hundred times already. They form a positive emotional bond to it that they now associate with you. I have a full set list of songs that I wish that I could have played.
I want to hear "Man, you're the best I've ever seen." Or at least a "We had a great time tonight." without being prompted as we wrap up our cords and pack away our lights.
Then toss me that tip. Please don't make it $20 or a blank "thank you" card. That tells me that you know that you are supposed to tip, but are cheap. Give me one worthy of my time. 20% in the service industry is standard!
Let me know that you are glad that majority of your very special day (The day that you dreamed about since you were a little girl, the day that you planned for months or years, the day that assembled everyone important in your life) that was controlled by me, was worth while. That people celebrated. That they came together and rejoiced as one.
I did that. I pieced it together. I psychologically created a utopia of joy centered around you through the use of music. I labored. I stressed. I persevered over silence to fill the void with great immeasurable happiness.
I won. This is why I still DJ.
See you next Saturday.